Pick of Parmesan

Parmesan is one cheese which has been subject to a lot of abuse — all sorts of granular grating cheeses have been passed off as Parmesan. They are so different from the real thing that, like fine wines, the Italian government has defined Parmesan Reggiano as a particular quality — and in my view, the best.

Parmesan actually means grating cheese. If Parmesan Reggiano is considered the best, in a number of Indian super markets and delicatessen, there is an attempt to promote the much cheaper and inferior Grana Padano. This is from the Po valley where much of the finest rice, particularly the Arborio rice which is used in risotto, comes from. But the cheese is not the best. The Parmesan Reggiano, by contrast, is produced in around 700 dairies in provinces of Modena, Reggiano, Emelia, Parma and Mantua. It takes nearly seventeen pounds of milk in weight to produce one pound of Parmesan. Given the fact that cheese is — not to put too fine a point on it — concentrated milk, the quality of the milk is critical to the excellence or otherwise of the Parmesan. 

On a trip to Italy in 2009, I talked to some Casaros, or cheese makers. The two variables which ensure quality in Parmesan is the ageing process and the milk — whether it comes from cows which graze in the valley or the mountains. 

As far as the ageing process goes, a high quality Parmesan should see two summers — it is in summer that the cheese undergoes the most extraordinary enzymatic transformation. This was demonstrated to me by a taste of a 30-month cheese. This was granular, complex and deeply satisfying. On the other hand, a young winter cheese tends to be soft and bland; the butter fat remains inside the cheese and does not rise to the surface as it would have if it were kept in the summer. 

As regards the question of what valley cows eat and what mountain cows eat, it was explained to me that while all milk cows in the Emilia Romagna live in barns, what they are fed is different. Mountain farmers cut fresh grass and other greenery twice a day and this is fed directly to the cows. In contrast, the cows in the valley have to put up with dry forage. The difference is apparent in the taste, texture and complexity of the cheese.

All this is very interesting but how do we establish which is the best?  There are several Italian wholesalers who only specialise in mountain cheeses such as Rocca, Magnini and Greci. Avoid Parmesan from Mantua as that province has no mountains. In India, we try to make Parmesan with modest success. The slightly better version is the Parmesan from Auroville in Pondicherry.

A less satisfactory example is a Parmesan from Pune which shall be nameless. Given the need for mountains, one would imagine Ooty would be a good place. I at least have not come across an Ooty version of a Parmesan. Perhaps there is an opportunity here?